Summer recruitment

[claretspice]

Mooy and/or Billing from Huddersfield.

A winger.

Che Adams or Jarred Bowen.

Billing or Mooy sound like good shouts on paper, and they both (especially Billing) tick the "powerful midfielder who can play" boxes that many clearly see as the priority for our midfield recruitment. But they're both at the same club, and that club is rock bottom of the league. I know Mooy has missed a chunk of the last couple of months due to injury, but they were in real trouble before then. Which makes you wonder if they're both as effective as they're perceived to be (particularly at present in the case of Billing- he's admittedly young enough to have potential to improve).

[JohnDearyMe]

Billing or Mooy sound like good shouts on paper, and they both (especially Billing) tick the "powerful midfielder who can play" boxes that many clearly see as the priority for our midfield recruitment. But they're both at the same club, and that club is rock bottom of the league. I know Mooy has missed a chunk of the last couple of months due to injury, but they were in real trouble before then. Which makes you wonder if they're both as effective as they're perceived to be (particularly at present in the case of Billing- he's admittedly young enough to have potential to improve).

Signing Pope and Gudmonnsen from a relegated side worked out ok

[jrgbfc]

I think Billing would be a great signing for us, just what we're missing, a big, strong athlete in the middle of the park.

[Jakubs Tash]

Mooy is a very good footballer. Billing flatters to deceive, in my opinion.

I would love Tom Cairney from Fulham. Excellent footballer who demands the ball.

[jrgbfc]

Is Mooy suited to playing for us though? Dyche wants runners/grafters ahead of footballers.

[claretonthecoast1882]

Some whoppers getting in early before the window even opens

[tiger76]

This is why our strategy has to be to get in early and if it means paying a little bit more so be it. Instead we waste time putting in derisory bids and leave it till other clubs start sniffing around and then scratch our heads wondering why we keep getting blown out of the water on fees/wages.

It not just the time wasted on targets we're never going to pay top dollar for as the seller demands,but while we're chasing the said targets other clubs are happily picking up bargains,prime example last summer we're screaming out for a creative CM,yet we waste 2 months going after Jay,in the meantime someone like John Mcginn is snapped up by Villa for 4 million,could he step up to PL level the jury is still out but he's doing OK at Villa,and 4 million is less then we paid for Wells,who has hardly kicked a ball for us,in the final week we go for Clucas and the move breaks down apparently due to injury concerns,fair enough but where is the back-up plan for such an outcome.

We have far too small a pool we're swimming in,which is mainly top-end Championship players,if that's the market you're shopping in,be prepared to pay big bucks,the problem is the board rightly or wrongly won't go that extra mile to secure Sean's main targets,and yet again we come up empty-handed from another window,luckily our post-Xmas purple patch should just be enough to see another season of PL football at Turf Moor,but there are major warning signs,if the squad and especially the first 11,isn't significantly strengthened in the next window.

We have to cut the deadwood.

So for me Defour,Walters,Crouchie have to go,if we're still a top-flight team,i can't see Wells getting many starts,so if we can get 2-3 million from a Championship side,i'd let him go and get regular football,Ward's a tough one the lad has been a top pro for BFC,but his performance levels have been declining,if we can bring in a younger left-back,again i'd let him go Taylor is showing more promise than a few months ago,and he is the future.

Lowton/Bardsley both are decent enough,the question is will either be happy at sitting on the bench for a good amount of games.

I assume at least one of the keeper's will go,whether it's Pope or Hart is the question,but we can't have 3 England goalies on the books long-term,additionally this would free up another slot for our 25 man squad.

Being greedy i'd like a solid CM who breaks up play and keeps it simple,and ideally a ball-playing AM in the mould of Defour,where we get either form i haven't i clue,that's where the scouting team should be earning their dough.

Strikers Barnes and Wood have shown they can be a lethal pairing,but we do need adequate back-up if either was to be out long-term,i wouldn't hold your breath for a 20 million incomer though.

Central defence most people seem convinced Tarks will go for big money,that would still leave us with Mee,Gibson,Long and possibly Jimmy Dunne as 4th choice.

[Jakubs Tash]

Is Mooy suited to playing for us though? Dyche wants runners/grafters ahead of footballers.

He probably runs around as much as he needs to. Perhaps better footballers don't need to run about quite as much. Jack Cork runs about a lot and I would bet his 'distance covered' stats are right near the top....

[claretspice]

Mooy is a very good footballer. Billing flatters to deceive, in my opinion.

I would love Tom Cairney from Fulham. Excellent footballer who demands the ball.

I'm not so sure Cairney doesn't flatter to deceive too at this level. Worth remembering he's spent a lot of this season on the bench for a particularly awful Fulham team.

[Jakubclaret]

Also players will look at the likes of Gibson and Vydra coming in last summer and not even being given a chance which won't help sell us unfortunately.

Especially if Gibson & Vydra start playing silly B*ggers (no suggestion they will) of lacking of playing time & opportunities & get itchy feet it's a very short career as a footballer, i know they are contracted at the moment, we could potentially be looking at players wanting to leave as opposed to attracting, they might be happy picking up a wedge playing bit part as a consideration.

[Jakubs Tash]

I'm not so sure Cairney doesn't flatter to deceive too at this level. Worth remembering he's spent a lot of this season on the bench for a particularly awful Fulham team.

Fair enough. I disagree. I think played in the correct position he would allow us to play more football. Looks like we'll need a creative player to replace Defour (unfortunately) and he fits the bill. Could also play as a true no 10.

[claretspice]

Fair enough. I disagree. I think played in the correct position he would allow us to play more football. Looks like we'll need a creative player to replace Defour (unfortunately) and he fits the bill. Could also play as a true no 10.

Aye fair enough, but I think the doubt with Cairney has always been over his work off the ball rather than on it - both in terms of his running off the ball when his team are in possession (including his willingness to get into the box when played as a number 10, which I've seen highlighted on MOTD this season), and his defensive ethic.

[IanMcL]

Mooy will be in demand, as will Cairney.
Both good assets.

[NickBFC]

IF we stay up, then the club has a huge summer ahead in terms of recruitment. The side needs an injection of quality, two maybe three players of PL quality who will actually improve our starting eleven I think. We don't have the youngest squad and we're in real need of bringing in some younger legs to mould a side around that can compete. I fear another poor window will see us in bigger trouble next season should we still be playing at this level. A decent addition each window would have gently freshened the squad rather than what's looking like the need for a bigger building job now.

[Long Time Lurker]

Agree with your final paragraph,Vydra hasn't worked out,for a variety of reasons,Wood has broadly been a success.

For comparison this is the recent Championship top scorers.

https://www.itsroundanditswhite.co.uk/a ... e-they-now

Not many on that list have made an impact in the PL,really only Glenn Murray and Chris Wood could be considered a proven hit at the top level.

Scanning the top scorer lists of the Championship does seem to be a strategy that we follow. With every other club being alerted to the probable availability of Che a long drawn out battle for his signature in the next window looks likely, with Birmingham looking to squeeze out every last penny. If he does move on then I can easily imagine his transfer fee being somewhere in the region of £20m.

If the pattern repeats that would see us scanning down the list until we come to Neil Maupay, Which will be followed by a long time chasing a player that Brentford don't want to lose for less than a silly amount of money.

How much did he cost Brentford?

A paltry £2m from Saint Etienne. That was two years ago when we were wildly flailing around after Britt Assombalonga and complaining how difficult the market was, until we snapped up Chris Wood for north of £15m.

Or we could scan further down the top scorer list for this year and go for Jutkiewicz. He might have only scored 10 goals, but he also has 10 assists to his credit. Lets sign him up and bring him back

From what I can see our key recruitment strategies are the previous one and two others, with a few extra bits and bobs added in.

The second is to wait until later in the window, so we can see who has been thrust into the limelight of the rumour mill by the interest of other clubs, and make a move for them if they seem suitable. I suspect that ties into the mistaken idea that later in the window our competitors will have spent all their transfer funds, reducing the potential for us to be involved in costly bidding wars. It also allows us to sit back and let othe clubs do the bulk of our scouting work for us.

However, while that strategy can reduce the number of active participants chasing a particular player it doesn't usually lead to lower prices. Prices tend to rise towards the end of the window as clubs become less willing to sell, reducing any price benefit from lower competition. Money coming in is less attractive if you have no time left to spend it wisely on a replacement. The general air of desperation doesn't help secure lower prices either. Arguably, it also leaves us picking over the scraps after all the choice morsels have been snapped up earlier in the window.

Our third strategy appears to be casting an eye over the three relegated teams and seeing if any of the names on their team rosters match the ones on our transfer target list. Unfortunately, it seems like our list isn't refreshed as often as it should be and while it provides us with a lot of knowledge about them by the time we do land them they are close to the end of their careers. We finally got our man, just before he retired from the game.

Put those three strategies in place and you can pretty much account for the majority of transfers that we have made in the last half dozen windows. Granted, we have done fairly well in respect to the quality of the players we have brought in overall, but it is no surprise that we have had to pay through the nose in a lot of cases or miss out.

Oh, I nearly missed out on the fourth strategy, asking players already at the club if they can think of any players from their previous clubs or national teams that are looking to move and could do a job for us. Nothing really wrong with this one, because it can tick the knowledge box and lead to smooth transitions.

It's no real surprise that we end up playing follow the leader, or that clubs like Norwich have more luck finding hidden gems. Despite having lower budgets, and arguably being less attractive than us, they simply have better recruitment departments and overall development set ups. I would also include Brentford, Bristol City and (wash my mouth out) Leeds in that respect. None of those clubs are currently in the Premier League, but they are very adept at making a little go a very long way.

[Long Time Lurker]

Phillip Billing would be a great acquisition but he's probably out of our price range,Ollie Watkins is a more realistic option but we have to be sharp and not wait for others to react.

Greg Taylor won't be a name many will know,but if he could be snapped up fairly cheaply i'd take a punt,only 21 can play LB,DM and CM,so at worst he'd be a versatile option in the squad.

Philip Billing would be something of a Marquee signing in terms of quality and expected price.

If Huddersfield weren't looking certain for the drop he wouldn't be on my list, because they would be daft to sell a player like him if they were staying up. I would still expect them to fight tooth and nail to keep hold of him. I don't doubt there will be strong interest in his signature and Huddersfield will want a substantial price if he does leave.

Regrettably, I think you are right and he will probably end up going somewhere else for more money than we are prepared to pay.

I would expect a relatively high price for Ollie Watkins as well.

Jarrod Bowen's name was touted a bit in the last window, but I view him as a very similar player to Dwight. Left footers who will score goals on the right wing or contribute assists on the left wing.

We have Dwight now, so bringing in a similar type of player doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

Callum Robinson is a right footed winger playing for Preston. He could be seen as the next step down the price ladder and the type of player who could offer us the opposite impact on both wings. He has played on the right in the past, not much, but a bit. However, their current crop of players mean that he has been played primarily on the left, allowing Barkhuizen to slot in on the right.

Interestingly he has also played quite a few matches as a Centre Forward. He hasn't shown anything spectacular in terms of his overall scoring record in that position, but a lot of his matches were played earlier in his career. Significantly, he has demonstrated a strong upward performance curve in that role as he has got older. His three appearances as a Centre Forward this season provided a return of two goals, added to the six scored from the left wing and one as an attacking midfielder.

Preston should probably be doing better this season. The injury to Callum knocked them back, but their bigger problem is the lack of a decent striker, despite having a grand total of five on their first team books, including Nmecha on loan. Moult and Maguire haven't performed up front so far this season and Stockley isn't looking like the answer either.

When five of your midfielders have chipped in 35 goals between them (Browne 11, Robinson 9, Barkhuizen 6, Gallagher 5, Johnson 5) and your four main strikers have only netted 8 times (Moult 4, Maguire 2, Nmecha 1, Stockley 1) I think it is fair to say the lads up front aren't pulling their weight for some reason. Even Hughes at left back is close to out-scoring all of them with 3.

Howard doesn't seem to feature in Preston's plans and he will be out of contract in the Summer, leaving them with three underperformers to start next season. They can't afford a decent striker and what little money they did have this year went on Stockley.

Given Preston's financial position, their Chairman has to regularly chip in cash every season to keep them afloat, I could imagine Robinson and Browne coming here with Wells and some cash going the other way. Nahki would be a very good acquisition for them and considering their current strike force he would be pretty much guaranteed regular football. As much as he looks like he is enjoying the active game time at QPR they simply don't have the money to buy him.

It's not Philip Billing and Ollie Watkins, but Browne and Robinson coming here and Nahki plus cash going the other way might work well for everyone. It could allow us to tick three of our requirement boxes at the very start of the window for a minimal outlay. Centre Midfield, Right Wing and a Centre Forward with a bit of pace. However, with Jeff currently playing well on the right a new winger coming in might mean that another player has to move on if they want regular game time.

So that would mean changing my top picks to Alan Browne, Callum Robinson, Greg Taylor, the three French youngsters, Kyle Scott and Dru Yearwood. Not a big news star player amongst them, I feel nice and cheap again. It would also allow Sean to tick off another couple of names on his "collect the Irish squad" list.

I could live with that lot, although I still think Ajeti is worth considering depending on his price. Oliver Kemen would fill the physical defensive midfielder requirement and Scott could be the future Defour replacement. Charlie Taylor would be our man to beat at left back, with Ward as his quality back up and Greg Taylor coming through with Koiki nipping at his heels. Burner could understudy Bardsley and Lowton at right back.

Minimal squad upheaveal, minimum spending and good young players coming to the club (two that are already local). No reason why we couldn't do it all early and have the rest of the window to respond to any outgoings.

If only it was so easy.

[Jakubs Tash]

Aye fair enough, but I think the doubt with Cairney has always been over his work off the ball rather than on it - both in terms of his running off the ball when his team are in possession (including his willingness to get into the box when played as a number 10, which I've seen highlighted on MOTD this season), and his defensive ethic.

Completely understand what you are saying and they are very fair points.

Whilst we have 'regained our identity' going back to 4-4-2 recently, I don't think there is any doubt that the best football we have seen in recent times was the first half of last season when we had a midfield 5. This also adds flexibility to how we can play and our play becomes less rigid and predictable (as 4-4-2 can sometimes be when things aren't going well).

Just adding someone with Cairney's creativity to what we already have across the middle could make a huge difference to us and bring some improved quality to our style and the amount of chances we create. Having a 5 of Westwood (doing the dirty work) with Cairney and McNeil flanked by Brady and JBG would look very decent in my opinion.

Maybe we will have to sacrifice on the work rate and running on a player or two to improve our style, creativity and quality on the ball (ball retention).

[claretspice]

Scanning the top scorer lists of the Championship does seem to be a strategy that we follow. With every other club being alerted to the probable availability of Che a long drawn out battle for his signature in the next window looks likely, with Birmingham looking to squeeze out every last penny. If he does move on then I can easily imagine his transfer fee being somewhere in the region of £20m.

If the pattern repeats that would see us scanning down the list until we come to Neil Maupay, Which will be followed by a long time chasing a player that Brentford don't want to lose for less than a silly amount of money.

How much did he cost Brentford?

A paltry £2m from Saint Etienne. That was two years ago when we were wildly flailing around after Britt Assombalonga and complaining how difficult the market was, until we snapped up Chris Wood for north of £15m.

Or we could scan further down the top scorer list for this year and go for Jutkiewicz. He might have only scored 10 goals, but he also has 10 assists to his credit. Lets sign him up and bring him back

From what I can see our key recruitment strategies are the previous one and two others, with a few extra bits and bobs added in.

The second is to wait until later in the window, so we can see who has been thrust into the limelight of the rumour mill by the interest of other clubs, and make a move for them if they seem suitable. I suspect that ties into the mistaken idea that later in the window our competitors will have spent all their transfer funds, reducing the potential for us to be involved in costly bidding wars. It also allows us to sit back and let othe clubs do the bulk of our scouting work for us.

However, while that strategy can reduce the number of active participants chasing a particular player it doesn't usually lead to lower prices. Prices tend to rise towards the end of the window as clubs become less willing to sell, reducing any price benefit from lower competition. Money coming in is less attractive if you have no time left to spend it wisely on a replacement. The general air of desperation doesn't help secure lower prices either. Arguably, it also leaves us picking over the scraps after all the choice morsels have been snapped up earlier in the window.

Our third strategy appears to be casting an eye over the three relegated teams and seeing if any of the names on their team rosters match the ones on our transfer target list. Unfortunately, it seems like our list isn't refreshed as often as it should be and while it provides us with a lot of knowledge about them by the time we do land them they are close to the end of their careers. We finally got our man, just before he retired from the game.

Put those three strategies in place and you can pretty much account for the majority of transfers that we have made in the last half dozen windows. Granted, we have done fairly well in respect to the quality of the players we have brought in overall, but it is no surprise that we have had to pay through the nose in a lot of cases or miss out.

Oh, I nearly missed out on the fourth strategy, asking players already at the club if they can think of any players from their previous clubs or national teams that are looking to move and could do a job for us. Nothing really wrong with this one, because it can tick the knowledge box and lead to smooth transitions.

It's no real surprise that we end up playing follow the leader, or that clubs like Norwich have more luck finding hidden gems. Despite having lower budgets, and arguably being less attractive than us, they simply have better recruitment departments and overall development set ups. I would also include Brentford, Bristol City and (wash my mouth out) Leeds in that respect. None of those clubs are currently in the Premier League, but they are very adept at making a little go a very long way.

I think the reason clubs like Leeds or Norwich find hidden gems, apart from anything else, is that they're competing (currently) in the Championship, and have been for the last 2-3 years. It's a statement of the obvious that it's much easier to develop a team and bring through under-the-radar players at that level, than in the Premier League.

Incidentally, of all the players you've mentioned, I don't disagree re: Callum Robinson. A player I've always liked the look of - good pace, fairly tricky , and good both on the turn and running into space (probably a sort of taller and more athletic version of Danny Ings). The problem with him is that he's had injury problems, most notably hamstring surgery which is always a bit of a worry for a young speedster. But I suppose that might keep his price tag realistic. Just goes to show this recruitment lark isn't easy.

But - isn't Jarod Bowen more in that sort of mould - quick, nippy, low centre of gravity, goalscorer - than McNeil's slightly more rangy style of prompting?

[claretspice]

Completely understand what you are saying and they are very fair points.

Whilst we have 'regained our identity' going back to 4-4-2 recently, I don't think there is any doubt that the best football we have seen in recent times was the first half of last season when we had a midfield 5. This also adds flexibility to how we can play and our play becomes less rigid and predictable (as 4-4-2 can sometimes be when things aren't going well).

Just adding someone with Cairney's creativity to what we already have across the middle could make a huge difference to us and bring some improved quality to our style and the amount of chances we create. Having a 5 of Westwood (doing the dirty work) with Cairney and McNeil flanked by Brady and JBG would look very decent in my opinion.

Maybe we will have to sacrifice on the work rate and running on a player or two to improve our style, creativity and quality on the ball (ball retention).

Don't disagree with the basic premise, and particularly the idea that using McNeil centrally next season might be an option which assists us in adding some more subtlety to our play. But whilst I completely see your thinking re: Cairney, I'm not sure we can afford to completely sacrifice running for ball players - Fulham have regularly found themselves putting together nice passing moves this season, but without anyone really busting a gut to get on the end of moves, they've counted for nought. I think we'll need options to move away from 4-4-2 for sure (and I like the idea that McNeil might move into the "Hendrick role" next season, but I think any replacement for Defour will need to be the full shilling and put in the yards (even if it's more about providing supporting runs to the other attacking players than for defensive purposes). Even if you look at Bournemouth, for example, they play with a fairly dynamic due at the base of midfield (the likes of Lerna, Gosling, Surman, generally). You don't get too many strollers in the Premier League these days.

[SGr]

Whilst we have 'regained our identity' going back to 4-4-2 recently, I don't think there is any doubt that the best football we have seen in recent times was the first half of last season when we had a midfield 5. This also adds flexibility to how we can play and our play becomes less rigid and predictable (as 4-4-2 can sometimes be when things aren't going well).

Completely agree with this one. This idea that Dyche is wedded to 4-4-2 is nonsense IMO, when given the opportunity to move away from it he opts for 5 in midfield. Injuries have forced us back to a 4 on multiple occasions. Can see he likes the extra man in the middle when he asks his wingers to drift inside.